My 14m ds has bad eczema, any tips

[TheMumsRush]

My ds has had it from birth. It's on his ankles, behind knees, inner thigh, arms bask (two bad patches). All all over really. I use aveeno oil in the bath, I then use 1% hydrocortisone then aveeno cream. Today I got a rosehip oil to try. I've also swapped to goats milk, vitalite spread (only just though). I don't use softener and I use an enzyme free washing powder. Anything else I should try? I have diprobase but it's horrid and I don't see a change. Thanks

Sorry to hear that. Could she be reacting to milk protein? Did she have reflux, lots of wind or just a very unsettled baby? Goats is actually very similar to cow's and most likely wouldn't help if it is related to an intolerance. Soya isn't recommended for babies but you could swap to the fortified Koko coconut milk for a few weeks and see if there's a change. Have you seen a specialist or just the GP?

this blog may be interesting.

I've been to the gp a few times, going again this week and going to push for a specialist. He's not windy at all, and no reflux. He's very grumpy though and I don't blame him :( .

Do you have hard water in your area. We got a water softener fitted on the advice of our GP when DS1 had Eczema as a baby, it made a lot of difference

What worked for my DD (10 yrs ago) was not bathing every day - so a bath every 2-3 days. It was advice I was given by the HV. (Oilatum in the bath and aveeno cream)
But I was on a thread a while ago where it said new advice was regular baths were good for eczema - warm water, pat dry IIRC...
But personally I would still try cutting down on the baths ...
And diprobase is vile stuff - see if you try double base easier to apply etc (but not sure if it is as good)
And finally do you use soap or shampoo - I didn't use soap at all. If you do use anything check the label - lots of toiletries (and washing powder etc) still contain the preservative Methylisothiazolinone (MI) which is in the process of being banned in the EU for causing allergies - in fact I've never had an allergy before in my life but found my face burning after a shower - then found my new shampoo contained it. Stopped using it and no problems then used my DD1s face scrub and got a burning face again - contained MI. (Funnily enough this the child who had the worst eczema (DD2 did as well but to a lesser extent - but she has never had daily baths)- now uses stuff like that=- no problem!)

I've been told to bath every day, I only use aveeno oil or aqueous cream. I live in a hard water area. I've been in tears watching him suffer. His scalp is getting flaky now

How old is he? Things that have helped us - Aveeno, Oilatum and Epiderm as daily moisturisers/ bath emollients.

Find an SLS-free aqueous cream. I don't know why GPs recommend aqueous creams with sodium laurate sulphates in them because they thin the skin. There's one on Amazon you can get a big tub of quite easily. You can use that in baths or as a moisturiser for intense moisturisation.

Try a wet wrap - messy but effective. Google it but essentially, cover them in your moisturiser or aqueous cream, put a layer of simple wet clothing on like PJs or a sleep suit, then a dry layer of simple clothes. The warmth from his body will warm up the wet layer and give him a deep moisturising.

Try to get referred for allergy testing or pay if possible, and watch out for any known reactions to food as this will help with referrals. We had no chance with managing DS's skin until we got allergy testing done. Use a sensitive skin detergent and try to reduce central heating usage. I'm also not a fan of using fleecy man made fibres - much prefer to keep him warm layering cotton clothing.

Poor baby and poor you. I posted recently about how hard it is with an itchy baby. It's not nice at all.

Could you ask for ointment instead of cream? Its more like Vaseline and sits on the skin. Awful stuff that gets everywhere but its amazing. DS's cleared up very very quickly on this and he bad it pretty much everywhere.

I personally would reduce the baths drastically! DS is 16 months and I bathe him every three days or so, unless he's teething and has had tons of bad nappies.

He's 14m. Even getting the creams on him is stressful as he writhes around and I can't hold him. I have diprobase and that's like Vaseline but it's awful.

I will reduce the baths, yes. What about diet?

We have hard water and cut baths right down to twice a week for LO who is 16mo. It helped. this soap which we got hold of a few weeks ago is also not doing any harm at all. Really moisturises the skin without irritating it. Far better than any of the big brands we were told to try.

I slather stuff on DS twice a day and now just make it a game - tickle tickle, "Oooooh look you're soooooooo greasy, look at lovely squidgy greasy slippery DS!' etc. Even if he doesn't know what you're saying, the tone of your voice will let him know it's lighthearted and fun, and not something that Has To Happen.

This is the SLS free aqueous cream we use: www.amazon.co.uk/Aquamax-AQU010-Cream-500g/dp/B007ADIYA8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394569718&sr=8-1&keywords=aquamax

Thanks ladies,

I suffer from exzema and so does my dd. Heating on in the house deffo makes my skin worse ( i only get it a bit mind you)
On dd reducing her baths helped massively. I hope this works for your ds OP.

As someone who used to suffer from horrendous eczema I would:

Drastically reduce the number of baths, certainly not every night
Don't use any soaps if possible
Get a water softener
Use transparent greasy ointment, not creams
Use the wet wrapping method mentioned above
Avoid all pets and animals
Watch out for dairy alergies

It's already been said, but bathing 2-3 times a week at most is good.

Aveeno is the most gentle product I've found so far, it doesn't seem to sting the broken skin so much.

As for diet, with my DCs the strawberries and bananas seem to cause problems but it took a bit of experimenting to reach that conclusion.

These are things that have helped DS2 & DD:

Avoiding the swimming pool for a few months.
Fewer baths/showers.
Not drying laundry outside during pollen season.
Unguentum.
Cotton clothing next to skin.

50/50 cream is the best in this house. Use non bio. Don't use fabric softener. Put on 50/50 cream on every few hours. Leave skin exposed if possible (shorts and t-shirts).

We've tried the following creams and settled on 50/50 with steroid cream occasionally on bad patches: diprobase, doublebase, aveeno, qv, hydromol, dermol.

Oh and I've found that Waitrose Bottom Butter slapped on in the night (when they wake up it itching) does a good job.

It also might be worth talking to a GP about an antihistamine prescription for those moment when they can't stop itching. I have also dosed my DS with Piriton, leftover from chickenpox, once or twice in the middle of the night and it got him back to sleep when he was very distressed from the itching and pain.

Also no soap of any sort.

Really interesting!!! - lots of others saying reduce the baths too!
(It worked like a miracle for DD1 - not cured but great improvement) !
But I'm 100% sure some new research is extolling the virtues of daily baths -probably where the advice for your DS has come from...
actually googling found this ...
nationaleczema.org/eczema/child-eczema/infants-toddlers/

Still I'd give the fewer baths a try for a couple of weeks...
(ponders what Badscience makes of the research and whether it was funded by the makers of creams and bath stuffs...)

I feel awful for bathing him every night but that's what I was advised . I only have 100% cotton. No softener, enzyme free powder (although I may try soap flakes). What's 50/50 cream? I can't leave him with no top on as he will rip himself to shreds

I would push to see a specialist. My goddaughter has very severe eczema, and it has improved enormously on the routine she has now - which in her case includes daily baths.

She sees a specialist at GOSH.